Tuesday, October 4, 2011

You Need To Keep An Eye On This...

As much as I enjoy Facebooking and Twitter, I caution you to remain aware that not all of these so called "social medias" are Religion friendly!We, as Americans need to watch out for our basic human rights - our religious freedom guarded by the Constitution and Declaration of Independence.So, if you get a chance to speak up on things like this article below, you need to. You have to join your voices to keep your freedom too.

Nashville, Tenn., Oct 4, 2011 / 06:15 am (CNA).- Major internet media platforms and service providers have policies that hinder Christian evangelization and censor speech on controversial issues of the day like abortion and marriage, a new report says.
“Christian ideas and other religious content face a clear and present danger of censorship on web-based communication platforms,” said the National Religious Broadcasters’ report “True Liberty in a New Media Age.”
If Christian content is “censored” by new media platforms like the iTunes App Store, Facebook, Google, or internet service providers, “the Good News of the Gospel could become one more casualty of institutionalized religious discrimination,” the broadcaster organization’s president Frank Wright said in the report’s foreword.
The National Religious Broadcasters was founded in 1944 to oppose government regulations and policy decisions by major broadcast networks which impeded the ability of evangelical ministers to buy radio airtime.
Some new media companies have banned Christian content, while others have public positions that make censorship “all but inevitable.”
Except for the microblogging service Twitter, all the new media platforms and services examined have policies “clearly inconsistent with the free speech values of the U.S. Constitution,” the report said.
New media companies are responsive to “market forces” and the demands by “pressure groups calling for censorship” of otherwise lawful viewpoints.
As examples of “anti-Christian censorship,” the report cited the Apple iTunes App Store’s removal of the Manhattan Declaration app that defended traditional marriage. The store also removed an app from Exodus International that said that homosexuality is inappropriate conduct which can be changed through a spiritual transformation.
Internet search engine giant Google refused to accept a pro-life advertisement from a Christian organization in England and its China-based internet service has blacklisted some religious terminology. The company’s advertising guidelines explicitly bar the phrase “abortion is murder” on the grounds it is “gruesome language.”
The report also cited Facebook and other outlets for a policy that bars ads for “politically religious agendas.”
Meanwhile, Facebook has partnered with gay rights advocates to halt “anti-homosexual” content and it is participating in gay-awareness programs. This suggests that Christian content critical of homosexuality, “gay marriage” or other practices will be at risk of censorship.
Apple, Facebook, MySpace, Google, Comcast, AT&T and Verizon all prohibit “hate speech,” which the National Religious Broadcasters report called a “dangerously undefined and political correct term” that is often applied to “stifle” Christian communicators.
“The ongoing technological convergence of these various new media platforms suggests that these free speech-inhibiting practices and unconscionable policies will be further entrenched unless corrective action is taken immediately,” the report said.
The report suggested that companies should follow a “free speech paradigm” guided by the basic First Amendment rules, even where those do not strictly apply to private businesses. It also suggested federal legislation or regulation to forbid “viewpoint censorship.”
“When we started our John Milton Project for Religious Free Speech, I sensed a gathering storm building, with 'new media' companies like Apple, Facebook and Google considering the option of censoring Christian content off their sites,” National Religious Broadcasters’ senior vice president Craig Parshall said on Sept. 13.
“Now, a little more than a year later, after finishing our extensive study, I am convinced that religious free speech rights will face a First Amendment hurricane if action is not taken immediately.”

Resume:

Married to an awesome husband for 34 years, veteran mom of three wonderful kids and their spouses. Experienced white water rafter, zip-liner, and have done barrel rolls, hammer heads and spins in a biplane.Try to go to Mass every morning, pray the Rosary every day, work in church office trying to help explain the faith by using print, social media and videos! LOVE TEACHING TEENS ABOUT GOD'S LOVE FOR THEM!No matter HOW old you are you can live adventures and enjoy the life God gave you to live!

Adding to the list of adventures:published my own books,write for international karate magazinefought a Golden Gloves boxer and didn't diefell underneath a raft and got stuck there while white water rafting the Arkansas River and didn't dieStill box and spar with 20 year oldsPodcast as: "That Lady From Church"videographer, podcaster, blogger.

My motto: No Excuses! Get out and Live Life!

Deliver Us, Lord

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy keep us free from sin and protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ!